Snap fastener with removable ornamental button



Dec. 10, 1968 HQ'H. ANDREWS 3,414,949

SNAP FASTENER WITH REMOVABLE ORNAMENT/XL BUTTON Filed Feb. 23, 1967lint/A" United States Patent 3,414,949 SNAP FASTENER WITH REMOVABLEORNAMENTAL BUTTON Hugh H. Andrews, Cheshire, Conn., assignor to ScovillManufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut IFiled Feb. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 618,184 6 Claims. (Cl. 24-208) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE An ornamental plastic button is removably secured to asnap fastener assembly in such a Way that it will not come off when thefastener is unsnapped, but may still be manually removed for cleaning,laundering or for replacement with a button of different color ordesign. A stud part of a common metal snap fastener may be employed asthe connector member for the button. An outwardly projecting metal rimaround the connector member engages in an annular recess of the buttonin such a way as to create a predetermined binding action when thebutton is tilted away from the supporting garment flap.

The invention relates to a snap fastener and ornamental button assemblyfor garments and the like wherein the button is removable from thefastener when desired.

There are instances in the prior art of cuff buttons which may beremovably attached to the cuff fastening parts, the best known examplesbeing shown in the following patents to Anderson, 1,183,422, May 16,1916; and Baskind, 2,648,110, Aug. 11, 1953.

In these patents the buttons stand out from the fasteners and cuffs andmay be applied or removed independently of the operation of the cufffasteners. On the other hand in applicants assembly the button bearsagainst or at least closely overlies the flap material of the garmentaround the fastener, and means are provided to create a limited bindingaction between the button and the connector member so that the normalpull or tilt action on the button which is required to open the garmentsnap fastener will not remove the button, but the button maynevertheless be separated manually from its connector member by asubstantially stronger pull on the button.

In the assembly of this invention the snap fastener parts which remainpermanently on the garment are preferably made of metal so that theywill not be affected by dry cleaning or laundering. The button is moldedfrom plastic material of a semi-rigid nature such as cellulose actate.To prevent damage to the button it may be removed for cleaning orlaundering or for replacement by another button of different color ordesign.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter morefully appear.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown for pur poses of illustrationtwo embodiments which the invention may assume in practice. In thesedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a garment, or the like,showing the ornamental button;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation partially in central section of the buttonand fastener assembly as employed on a garment flap;

FIG. 3 is a central sectional view showing the position of the par-tswhen a pulling force is placed on the button to tilt it with respect tothe fastener and the garment flap; and FIG. 4 is a partial sectionalview of a modified construction.

A portion of the garment flap, which may be one or more thicknesses oftextile or other flexible material, is indicated by the numeral 5. Theornamental button assembly may be secured to either the male or femaleelement of a snap fastener but since the outer flap of a garment usuallycarries the female elements, the invention is illus trated in connectionwith one common type of female fas tener element 6. This fastenerelement has a metal shell 7, the top wall 8 of which has a centralaperture 9, and a wire spring 10 is mounted in the shell 7. The spring10 is arranged and shaped to snap over the studportion of a malefastener element. The construction and operation 01 such snap fastenerelements are well known and need not be shown or described in detailhere.

A fastener element attaching member 11 has a base 12 bearing against theouter face of flap 5 and a barrel portion 13 extending through a hole inthe flap, through the aperture 9 in the fastener element 6 andis'clinched ovel as indicated at 14 against the inner surface of wall 8tc retain the fastener element tightly against the inner face of flap 5.A rolled rim 15 extends around the base 12 01 the attaching member 11and projects a substantial distance outwardly from such base. A portionof the periphery of rim 15 is preferably flattened so as to make acylindrical surface 16.

A connector member 17 is like the stud element of a commonly used typeof snap fastener. It has a disc-shaped base 18 permanently secured tothe attaching member 11 by the inner edge portion 19 of the rolled rim15 which bears against the outer surface of the base 18. A bulbous head20 projects outwardly from the base 18 and, as usual in stud elements ofsnap fasteners, the inner portion or neck 21 is of somewhat smallerdiameter than the outer portion of the head. The head is also preferablydimpled inwardly as indicated at 22..

The button generally indicated by the numeral 23 is a one piece mouldingof a suitable plastic material which is of comparatively rigid naturewithout however, being brittle, and capable of some degree offlexibility in relatively thin sections, one example of such materialbeing cellulose acetate. The button may be of any shape, color orsurface design which may be desired for decorative purposes and it mayalso be provided with a metal or cloth covering (not shown). The buttonis large enough to extend over the flap 5 beyond the rim 15 andpreferably, the

inner surface 24 of the button bears directly against the outer face ofthe flap.

The button has a centrally located inwardly opening socket 25 of a shapecomplemental to the bulbous head 17 so that it may be snapped over suchhead to hold the button in place. Around the socket 25 is an inwardlyopening annular recess 26 leaving an annular socket flange 27 betweensuch recess and the socket 25. This flange 27 is thin enough so that itwill yield sufiiciently to snap over the bulbous head 20 or to be pulledaway from the core part used in moulding the button. For this purposethe recess 26 is made deeper than would be required merely toaccommodate the rim 15. The outer diameter of recess 26 is slightlygreater than that of rim 15 so that the button may be assembled by astraight push in an axial direction without interference with the rim.The clearance may, however, be only a few thousandths of an inch so thatwhen the button is tilted, as by a force required to separate the femalesnap fastener element from the male element, the cylindrical wallsurface 28 of the button around the recess 26 will bind against thecylindrical surface 16 of the rim 15 due to the angling of the buttonwith reference to such rim.

In the modified construction shown in FIG. 4, instead of relyingentirely on these cylindrical surfaces to create the binding action, aninwardly extending lip 29 may be formed around the bottom of recess 26,such lip being thin enough so as to have the requisite yieldability topermit easy removal from a mold and also to permit assembly of thebutton in the manner already described. The position of the button whenbeing removed by a tilting action is ;hown in FIG. 4 in dotted lines. Ineither of the two constructions the rim and the recess 26 are so sizedand ;haped as to prevent the button snapping off under any iormal force(of the order of two pounds) necessary to separate the fastener parts,but at the same time the hind- .ng action must not be strong enough toprevent manual removal of the button by a somewhat greater force of thearder of eight pounds.

What I claim as new to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with the outer flap of a garment or :he like, of

(a) an assembly permanently secured to said flap including a snapfastener element on the inner face of said flap and an attaching memberwith a portion bearing against the outer face of the flap;

(b) an ornamental button covering said attaching member and extendingover said flap beyond said member;

(c) mutually cooperating snap fastener means centrally arranged on saidbutton and attaching member for removably holding said button in place;and

(d) means including a rigid rim fixed to said attaching membercooperating with a portion of said button which is spaced radiallyoutwardly from said fastening means of clause (c) for creating a bindingaction to prevent disengagement of such fastening means by tiltingmovement of said button until the applied tilting force exceeds apredetermined amount substantially greater than that normally requiredto disengage the snap fastener element of clause (a) from a matingfastener element on an inner flap.

2. The combination of (a) a fastener element attaching member having abase adapted to bear against the outer face of a flap, fastener elementretaining means adapted to extend through said flap to engage a snapfastener element on the inner face of said flap, and a rim around saidbase projecting a substantial distance outwardly therefrom;

(b) a connector member having a base permanently interengaged with saidrim and a rigid bulbous head projecting outwardly from said connectormember base; and

(c) a button of plastic material covering said connector member and saidattaching member and extending over said flap beyond said rim, saidbutton having an inwardly opening socket adapted to have snap engagementwith said bulbous head, an inwardly opening annular recess around saidsocket and an annular socket flange between said recess and said socket,said flange being yieldable to allow insertion and removal of saidbulbous head into and from said socket;

(d) said rim extending into said annular recess when said button isassembled to said connector member, said button having a cylindricalwall surface around said recess in close proximity to the peripheralsurface of said rim, said wall surface and said rim having cooperatingmeans adapted to create a limited binding action when said button istilted with reference to said attaching member to provide apredetermined resistance to removal of said button.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said snap fastener meansof clause (0) comprises an outwardly projecting rigid bulbous headcarried by said attaching member, said button having an inwardly openingsocket surrounded by a yieldable flange.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein that portion of said button whichextends beyond said rim, bears directly upon the outer face of saidflap.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein said peripheral surface of the rimhas a cylindrical portion, the clearance between said cylindricalportion and said wall surface around the recess being of the order oftwo to five thousandths of an inch whereby such surfaces will bindagainst one another as the button is tilted.

6. The combination of claim 2 wherein an inwardly projecting annular lipis formed near the bottom of said recess, said lip being yieldable so asto engage said peripheral surface of the rim as the button is tilted.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,799,910 7/1957 Weber 24216BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

E. SIMONSEN, Assistant Examimer.

